Omar Wasow

@owasow

Asst Prof, Berkeley, Political Science: 1/ Agenda Seeding 2/ Race as a Bundle of Sticks 3/ Text as Behavior 4/ Plutopopulism

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Omar Wasow@owasow· Jul 10

Does protesting authoritarianism alienate moderates? New working paper on 1960s West German student movement suggests protest was associated with modest *increase* in support for the center left, potentially by reshaping perceptions of the far right. osf.io/preprints/so...

Title page of an academic working paper titled The Electoral Effects of Anti-Authoritarian Protest: Evidence from the West German Student Movement. The author is Julian Voß, and the paper is dated July 6, 2026.

Abstract of a working paper examining whether anti-authoritarian protest generates electoral backlash. Using evidence from the 1960s West German student movement, the study finds no city-level backlash. Instead, protest is associated with increased support for the center-left Social Democrats, apparently driven by defections from the center right and by changes in how voters perceived the far-right NPD and democratic threats.

Map of West Germany showing the spatial distribution of student protest events between 1965 and 1969. Municipalities with protest activity are shaded in progressively darker red to indicate one, two to five, or more than five events. Protest occurred across much of West Germany, with clusters around major urban areas, while East Germany is shaded gray.

Dot-and-whisker plot showing estimated associations between protest exposure and party support at the individual level. Protest exposure is associated with higher support for the Social Democrats (SPD) and lower support for the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU), with little apparent change for the far-right NPD or the liberal FDP. Results are similar across models using respondent-only controls and models that additionally include municipality controls.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Jun 14

“This is Leonardo da Vinci's ‘Vitruvian Man,’ the ideal proportions, with arm span equal to height. My arm span is exactly equal to my height. Yours probably, too. But not the average NBA player. The average NBA player is a shade under 6'7", with arms that are 7 feet long.” youtu.be/8COaMKbNrX0?...

A minimalist rendering of Leonardo da Vinci's *Vitruvian Man* appears against a light gray background. The nude male figure is shown in two superimposed positions, with one set of arms extended horizontally and another angled upward, while one pair of legs stands together and another spreads outward. A thin black square frames the figure's torso and lower body, and a large circle surrounds the entire composition, intersecting the square in the classic geometric arrangement. The figure is depicted in muted sepia tones with visible sketch-like shading and anatomical detail, while the surrounding circle and square are rendered as simple black outlines. The overall image evokes ideas of proportion, symmetry, human movement, and the relationship between the human body and geometric ideals.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Jun 12

Bezos circa 2011, Bezos 2026. Not remotely the most important factor but I wonder how that kind of physiological transformation might contribute to attitudinal transformation.

Photo of Jeff Bezos, smiling, in front of red background. His physique looks thin in a loose fitting sweatshirt.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Jun 11

My car got towed yesterday for allegedly expired registration. Towing fees $720 + $180 per day (!) in private lot. Turned out registration was *not* expired and Sheriff’s office waived fees. So, I’m not out $900 but still grumpy. Who in government is getting paid-off to allow $180 per day lot fees?

Alt text:
A white fee schedule sign with dark blue text is mounted on a gray wall using metal fasteners at each corner. The sign lists towing and storage charges for vehicles impounded by the California Highway Patrol, Marin County Sheriff, and Novato Police Department. Fees include an hourly rate of $360.00, storage at $180.00 per calendar day, a $180.00 gate fee for after-hours, weekends, and holidays, and lien fees of $70.00 for amounts under $4,000 and $100.00 for amounts over $4,000. A paragraph near the bottom explains that vehicles stored under California Vehicle Code section 22850 may only be released to authorized individuals with proper documentation or agency approval. Contact numbers for the California Highway Patrol, Novato Police Department, and Marin County Sheriff Office are listed below. The sign concludes with a notice stating that all vehicles are subject to a lien or charge upon storage beyond 72 hours. Four small yellow markers are visible on the gray wall surrounding the sign.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Jun 4

Peak San Francisco www.sfchronicle.com/crime/articl...

Photo of a white Waymo robotaxi in San Francisco.

Headline: Get-a-Waymo: How a burglar used a robotaxi to flee the scene in a first-of-its kind S.F. case

Sub-head: After breaking into a yoga studio in San Francisco and stealing activewear, a burglar made his getaway in an autonomous Waymo in what police said was a novel case in the city.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Jun 3

The hits keep coming

Omar Wasow@owasow· Jun 3

“A special futuristic edition of the Today Show”

Katie Couric stands outdoors in front of a crowd gathered behind metal barricades. The presenter wears a shiny metallic silver jacket with black accents and has a sleek, platinum-blonde bob haircut that partially covers one eye. Several spectators in casual clothing watch from behind, including people holding cameras and signs. The image appears to be from a live morning television broadcast, with the crowd and urban setting creating an event atmosphere.

A wide view of an outdoor television broadcast shows a presenter facing a group of five people dressed in coordinated futuristic silver, white, and black outfits. Two display tables hold electronic devices and demonstration equipment. The segment is taking place in a city plaza surrounded by metal crowd barriers and onlookers. Storefronts and buildings line the background, including a prominent red storefront sign and banners reading “Today 2024.” A news ticker and broadcast graphics run along the bottom of the screen, reinforcing the live-TV setting.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Jun 3

I’m trying to recover data from an old hard drive that’s corrupted and it’s a funny walk down memory lane. Stumbled on an old 2004 clip of an absurd segment on the Today Show about what life would be like in 2024.

A television segment is being filmed outdoors in a busy urban plaza. Two people in futuristic, metallic-themed outfits stand beside a small display table covered with electronic gadgets, including portable music players, watches, handheld devices, and other consumer electronics. The person on the left wears a white sleeveless hooded top over a black long-sleeve shirt and appears to be explaining or demonstrating an item. The person on the right wears a silver-and-black outfit with structured, armor-like panels and is looking down at the products on the table. Behind them, spectators stand behind metal barricades, with storefronts, signs, and a large “Today 2024” banner visible in the background. A television news ticker and station graphics run along the bottom of the screen.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Jun 1

Noteworthy: even controlling for perceived race—how Florida Highway Patrol officers classified voters in traffic stops—partisan effects on reidentification persist in both directions. Two people perceived the same way still make different identity choices by party. HT @mattgrossmann.bsky.social

Two-panel chart showing how Republican party affiliation predicts ethnoracial reidentification, before and after controlling for perceived race (measured from Florida Highway Patrol officers' classifications during traffic stops). Top panel (Hispanic to White): effect drops from about +2 percentage points to about +0.7 points after the control but remains above zero. Bottom panel (White to Hispanic): effect is about -0.13 points before and -0.12 points after—essentially unchanged. Both directions remain significant. Sample: Florida voters linked to citation records, 2012-2019.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Jun 1

New paper by Donahue & Reich, forthcoming in AJS. Using 18 years of Florida voter records, they find Republicans significantly more likely than Democrats to shift Hispanic→White. Democrats more likely to shift White→Hispanic. 1/ www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.... HT @mattgrossmann.bsky.social

The Race of Politics: Partisan Affiliation and Ethnoracial Boundary Crossing*

Abstract

While a long literature has explored ethnoracial patterns of party affiliation and realignment, this paper takes an inverse approach, examining whether in- dividuals’ political affiliations predict shifts in their ethnoracial self-identifications. Using eighteen years of individual voter records from Florida, we show that rates of ethnoracial reidentification among voters are substantively large and patterned by party affiliation. Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to change their ethnoracial identities from Hispanic to non-Hispanic White, while Democrats are significantly more likely than Republicans to change their ethnoracial identities from non-Hispanic White to Hispanic. Even after accounting for differences in perceived race and other possible confounding factors, we find large and stable differences between Democrats and Republicans in both the rate and direction of ethnoracial reidentification, suggesting that partisans may both differently value and differently claim Whiteness and non-Whiteness.

Chart showing the average marginal effect of Republican party affiliation on the direction of ethnoracial reidentification, after adjusting for individual and contextual characteristics. Republicans are about 2 percentage points more likely than Democrats to reidentify Hispanic→White, and about 0.5 points less likely to reidentify White→Hispanic. Both effects are precisely estimated with tight confidence intervals. Sample: Florida voters who made any change to their voter records, 2006–2023.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 23

Years ago, went on Colbert Report to discuss “Cyberwar!” Between takes, they played Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Holland, 1945,” about Anne Frank. Backstage, I asked why. Colbert answered: “So I never forget how cruel the world can be.”

Photo backstage at Colbert Report! with Stephen Colbert, my 85 year old grandmother and me. We're standing side by side, with Colbert half smiling with raised eyebrows and me smiling widely. My grandmother is standing in the middle with glasses and a neutral expression.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 19

Whoa, now intrigued to read the political philosophy of Professor X. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profess...

Screen grab from Professor X wikipedia page:
...
Xavier's pacifist and assimilationist ideology and actions have often been contrasted with that of Magneto, a mutant leader (initially characterized as a supervillain and later as a complex antihero) with whom Xavier has a complicated relationship. Fans and commentators often compare Xavier and Magneto to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X respectively, though the amount of authorial intent supporting this comparison is disputed.[2] Writer Chris Claremont, who developed Xavier's characterization and originated Magneto's backstory, drew from Israeli politics, comparing Xavier to David Ben-Gurion and Magneto to Menachem Begin.[3] Later writers have additionally emphasized secretive, ruthless, and manipulative aspects of Xavier, while the later "Krakoan Age" storyline sees him align with Magneto to establish a sovereign mutant nation.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 14

I read it differently. Not so much a decrease in navel gazing as a shift in orientation from the past to the future, and from the narrow to the vast unknown. On NYC (having grown up there), I’d say it can be marvelously and terribly self-important. The classic New Yorker cover captures it well.

View of the World from 9th Avenue

A stylized magazine cover for The New Yorker fills the frame. At the top, the magazine’s title appears in large black letters against a cream background.

Below, the image presents a cartoonish, exaggerated perspective looking west from Manhattan. In the foreground are several city blocks around 9th and 10th Avenue, drawn in detailed lines and pastel colors. Streets are busy with tiny pedestrians, parked cars, trucks, storefronts, rooftops, and traffic lights. The buildings closest to the viewer are tall and densely packed.

Beyond the foreground cityscape lies a narrow strip labeled “Hudson River,” then an enormous flat green expanse representing the rest of the United States. A few scattered labels and landmarks appear across the simplified landscape, including “Jersey,” “Chicago,” “Kansas City,” “Nebraska,” “Utah,” “Las Vegas,” “Texas,” and “Los Angeles.” Small rock-like formations rise from the plain in a few places.

Farther back is a thin strip labeled “Pacific Ocean,” and at the horizon are tiny slivers labeled “China,” “Japan,” and “Russia.” “Mexico” and “Canada” appear at the far left and right edges. The exaggerated scale humorously depicts Manhattan as overwhelmingly important while the rest of the world is compressed into distant, simplified fragments.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 11

I now realize “game” here is ambiguous. What I meant was that it would be hard for subjects to guess what was being measured (what I called metric opacity) or the study's purpose (hypothesis opacity).

Sixth, the open-ended nature of text responses—and the nearly infinite number of ways they can be quantified—make them difficult to “game.” Rather than relying on what respondents say, metadata about how they respond, such as length or latency, acts like a behavioral “derivative,” capturing traces of engagement apart from content. Because respondents are typically unaware these features are being measured, such implicit indicators benefit from what we might call metric opacity, making them less susceptible to social desirability or other forms of strategic responding.

Seventh, any measure of human attitudes or behavior risks participants inferring the study’s purpose and altering their behavior in response (Mummolo and Peterson Reference Mummolo and Peterson2019). Metadata from open-ended prompts, by contrast, provide hypothesis opacity, reducing the likelihood that respondents anticipate or adapt to researcher expectations. Finally, text as behavior appears to generalize across languages, modes, transcription and translation.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 10

Random but true story: I have a credit on this film. www.imdb.com/title/tt0113...

Credit from the Film Hackers reads Omar Wasow, Hacking consultant: New York

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 8

Putting the gas in gaslighting

Screen capture of a tweet that shows a Trump press conference with text:

Trump:

Gas prices are way down. Have you looked?

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 6

Paper started long before rise of LLMs and so doesn't fully grapple with implications. In Discussion, mention things like keystroke tracking to detect writing vs copy / paste (done via javascript in one study) but Westwood's recent paper mimics that, too. Transcribed speech seems to work, too.

Third, more research is needed on detecting fraud in open-ended survey items. As AI tools proliferate, researchers face new forms of automated or AI-assisted deception (Westwood Reference Westwood2025). For example, Veselovsky et al. (Reference Veselovsky, Ribeiro, Cozzolino, Gordon, Rothschild and West2025) capture keystrokes, including copy–paste actions, to identify synthetic text production. Other behavioral traces, such as typing speed, keystroke regularity and mouse movements, can flag automation, though such signals can themselves be forged (Westwood Reference Westwood2025). These process-based indicators differ from the content-level mischief described by Lopez and Hillygus (Reference Lopez and Hillygus2018), where respondents intentionally provide absurd answers for amusement.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 6

Does text as behavior work across languages? Using Afrobarometer data from 36 African countries: people who score higher on a 10-question pro-democracy battery write more when asked ‘what democracy means to you?’ Similar positive slopes in English, French and Portuguese. cup.org/4cUmoXi 8/

Figure 4. Marginal effects of Importance of Democracy Scale on length of open-ended responses about democracy, by language.

Three-panel figure showing the predicted number of characters written in response to the question “What, if anything, does democracy mean to you?” as a function of respondents’ scores on an “Importance of Democracy” scale. Separate panels display results for English, French, and Portuguese language respondents. Shaded bands around each line indicate uncertainty intervals.

The x-axis in each panel represents the Importance of Democracy Scale, ranging from “Low” to “High.” The y-axis shows the predicted number of characters written in the open-ended response.

In the English panel, a solid blue line slopes upward from approximately 33 predicted characters at low levels of democratic importance to roughly 45 characters at high levels. The increase is gradual and approximately linear.

In the French panel, a red dotted line shows a steeper upward trend, rising from roughly 31 predicted characters at low democratic importance to nearly 50 characters at high levels. This panel displays the strongest positive relationship among the three language groups.

In the Portuguese panel, a purple dashed line also slopes upward, increasing from about 27 predicted characters at low levels of democratic importance to approximately 40 characters at high levels. Confidence intervals are somewhat wider at lower values of the scale.

Across all three language groups, higher support for democracy is associated with longer open-ended responses about the meaning of democracy. The figure suggests that respondents who place greater importance on democratic governance tend to provide more expansive or expressive textual answers, even after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic covariates.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 6

Does treating text as behavior map to meaningful real world outcomes? I find verbosity on four “most important problem” questions—what I call Expressive Engagement—predicts validated turnout (confirmed against voter files). ~16 pp higher in ’16 and ~18 pp in ’20. cup.org/4cUmoXi 7/

Figure 3. Marginal effects of Expressive Engagement in 2016 on validated turnout in 2016 and 2020.

Two-panel figure showing predicted probabilities of validated voter turnout as a function of “Expressive Engagement 2016” among registered voters. Both panels display fitted regression lines with shaded uncertainty intervals representing confidence bands around the estimates.

In **Panel A**, the x-axis measures Expressive Engagement in 2016, ranging from 0 to nearly 4. The y-axis shows the predicted probability of validated turnout in the 2016 election. The fitted line slopes upward steadily, indicating that higher levels of expressive engagement are associated with a greater likelihood of voting. Predicted turnout increases from roughly 70% at the lowest level of expressive engagement to approximately 85% at the highest level. The shaded confidence interval widens slightly at higher values of expressive engagement.

In **Panel B**, the x-axis again measures Expressive Engagement in 2016, while the y-axis shows the predicted probability of validated turnout in the 2020 election. The upward relationship is similar but somewhat more uncertain than in Panel A. Predicted turnout rises from approximately 65% at the lowest level of expressive engagement to just above 80% at the highest level. Confidence intervals are wider at lower and higher ends of the scale, reflecting greater uncertainty in the estimates.

Together, the panels illustrate that higher expressive engagement in 2016 is associated with substantially higher probabilities of validated voter turnout both contemporaneously in 2016 and longitudinally in 2020, even after adjusting for demographic, political, and behavioral covariates.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 6

The mirror image: Democrats whose writing aligns toward Trump look like MAGA Republicans in their support for him, a ~59 pp shift. Again, controlling for party ID, ideology, feeling thermometers and other covariates. Predictions from 2016 hold through ‘20 and ‘24. cup.org/4cUmoXi 6/

Figure 2, Panel B. Marginal effects of Expressive Alignment on probability of voting for Trump in 2016.

Line plot showing predicted probability of voting for Donald Trump in 2016 as a function of “Expressive Alignment 2016,” estimated separately for Democrats, Independents, and Republicans while controlling for additional covariates. Shaded regions around each line represent uncertainty intervals.

The x-axis ranges from −1 (“Clinton+”) to +1 (“Trump+”), indicating whether respondents’ expressive responses aligned more strongly with Clinton or Trump. The y-axis shows the predicted probability of voting for Trump in 2016.

Three party groups are displayed: Independents in purple with a solid line, Democrats in dark blue with a dashed line, and Republicans in red with a dashed line. Democrats and Independents both show strong positive relationships between expressive alignment and probability of voting for Trump. Democrats begin near zero probability of voting for Trump at the strongly Clinton-aligned end of the scale, then rise sharply as expressive alignment becomes more Trump-oriented, reaching over 50% at the strongly Trump-aligned end. Independents follow a similar but less steep upward pattern, increasing from very low levels to roughly 40% probability at the Trump-aligned end.

Republicans display a comparatively flat slope, maintaining a relatively stable predicted probability of voting for Trump across the expressive alignment scale, with only a modest increase from left to right.

The figure illustrates that expressive alignment strongly predicts Trump support among Democrats and Independents, while variation among Republicans is comparatively limited, suggesting that expressive alignment captures substantial variation in candidate choice beyond standard partisan and affective measures.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 6

How much you write for and against candidates—what I call “Expressive Alignment”—significantly improves prediction of who you say you’ll vote for. Republicans whose writing aligns toward Clinton are indistinguishable from Democrats in support for her, a ~40 pp shift. cup.org/4cUmoXi 5/

Figure 2. Marginal effects of Expressive Alignment on 2016 candidate choice.

Line plot showing predicted probability of voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016 as a function of “Expressive Alignment 2016,” estimated separately for Democrats, Independents, and Republicans while controlling for additional covariates. Shaded bands around each line indicate uncertainty intervals.

The x-axis ranges from −1 (“Clinton+”) to +1 (“Trump+”), representing the degree to which respondents’ expressive responses aligned more strongly with Clinton or Trump. The y-axis shows the predicted probability of voting for Clinton in 2016.

Three party groups are displayed: Democrats in dark blue with a dashed line, Independents in purple with a solid line, and Republicans in red with a dashed line. Democrats maintain relatively high predicted probabilities of voting for Clinton across the full range of expressive alignment, with only a modest downward slope as alignment becomes more Trump-oriented. Independents show a steeper decline, dropping from roughly 40% probability of voting for Clinton at the strongly Clinton-aligned end to under 10% at the strongly Trump-aligned end. Republicans show the steepest decline, falling from nearly 50% probability of voting for Clinton at the Clinton-aligned end to near zero at the Trump-aligned end.

The figure illustrates that expressive alignment strongly predicts candidate choice among Independents and especially out-party partisans, while co-partisans’ predicted probabilities remain comparatively stable across the alignment scale.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 6

2016 ANES asks “is there anything about Clinton/Trump that would make you vote for/against them?” More blank responses = significant declines in support, even after controlling for feeling thermometers, ideology and party ID. Nonresponse captures affect beyond standard measures. cup.org/4cUmoXi 4/

Figure 1. Marginal effects of nonresponse on probability of selecting a candidate in 2016. Two-panel plot showing predicted probabilities of voting for Hillary Clinton (Panel A) and Donald Trump (Panel B) by the number of “informative nonresponses,” with separate estimates for Independents, Democrats, and Republicans. Error bars indicate uncertainty intervals around the estimates.
In Panel A, the x-axis measures the number of nonresponses to questions asking what respondents liked “for Clinton” or disliked “against Trump.” The y-axis shows the predicted probability of voting for Clinton. Democrats begin with the highest predicted probability of voting for Clinton at zero nonresponses, followed by Independents and Republicans. As informative nonresponse increases from 0 to 2, predicted support for Clinton declines across all party groups, with especially steep declines among Republicans and Independents.
In Panel B, the x-axis measures the number of nonresponses to questions asking what respondents liked “for Trump” or disliked “against Clinton.” The y-axis shows the predicted probability of voting for Trump. Republicans maintain relatively stable levels of support for Trump across all levels of nonresponse. In contrast, Democrats and Independents show substantial declines in predicted support for Trump as nonresponse increases, falling from roughly similar levels as Republicans at zero nonresponse to much lower levels at higher nonresponse counts.
The figure illustrates that higher levels of informative nonresponse are associated with lower predicted support for the corresponding candidate among most partisan groups, although the relationship is weak or absent among Republicans in the Trump-support model.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 6

“Writing is hard.” Thrilled to share that this simple idea led to a new paper in Political Analysis! Where most text methods focus on content, I test if expression is also effortful action. I find simple measures like character counts reveal attitudes and predict voting. cup.org/4cUmoXi 1/

Text as Behavior
Text as Behavior published in Political Analysis

by Omar Wasow

Abstract

Text analysis typically focuses on content—such as sentiment or topic—but expression is also a form of effortful action. Building on this insight, I propose using simple features of open-ended tasks to study text as behavior. This approach treats expression, such as writing, as cognitively, emotionally and temporally “costly” for subjects but inexpensive for researchers. I show basic statistics like the number of characters can approximate effort and significantly improve estimation of quantities of interest, including candidate choice, the probability of turning out to vote and psychological states about which a subject may not be fully aware. Further, these methods can convert nonresponse into informative data; validate survey instruments; serve as mechanism checks; be hard for a subject to “game”; work across different languages and analogize well to real-world situations. In sum, text as behavior can help address a range of issues related to quantifying attitudes and actions.

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 4

Good point that in many places, like Georgia, the coalitions will be multiracial. In VRA-covered states in South like Mississippi and Alabama, though, biracial coalition is a reasonable approximation of the local demographics.

Racial and ethnic composition of Mississippi. Shows non-Hispanic white at about 58% and Black at about 38%. All other groups at about 1 to 3.6%

Table of Racial and ethnic composition of Alabama. Shows non-Hispanic whites at about 67% and Blacks at 27%. Hispanic/Latino is about 5%. Other groups 1 to 2%

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 2

When my father went to Columbus, Mississippi in 1964, his family feared for his life. Next week, when he goes back with family, he will be celebrated.

Front page of *The Commercial Dispatch* newspaper dated Friday, May 1, 2026. The main headline reads “Freedom Summer visit to highlight Eighth of May.” A highlighted subheading mentions Bernard Wasow, who taught in a Freedom School in Columbus, being portrayed by an MSMS student at an annual event. To the right, a photo shows a young man outdoors mid-performance, gesturing as if speaking or acting. A caption explains he is portraying a Freedom Summer volunteer during the Eighth of May Emancipation Celebration. At the top right, a smaller sports feature shows a softball player throwing a ball with the headline “Onward and Upward.”

Omar Wasow@owasow· May 2

“Hebrew was not a natural choice of a common language… Since Zionists viewed Yiddish as the main threat, Israeli regulations made it illegal to establish a Yiddish theatre, publish a daily in the Yiddish language, establish Yiddish schools…” www.gw.uni-jena.de/phifakmedia/...

Hebrew was not a natural choice of a common language. Zionist
intellectuals, intent on creating a new Hebrew nation, were divided as
to the choice of the language. For example, Theodor Herzl was not quite
aware of the extent of the use of modern Hebrew by Zionist settlers in
Palestine, and preferred German as the lingua franca of his New Old Land.
Moreover, he paid little attention to the role of the language in fostering
a new national identity.
The use of German became a casus belli several years after Herzl’s death.
At issue was the language of instruction at the Technion, a technical
university founded largely by German Jews, who naturally expected
German to be the language of instruction. In the event, the Russian
Zionists won out and affirmed the monopoly of modern Hebrew for
fostering the new nation. This was the first but not the last victory of
Russian Zionists over their German brethren. In spite of their remarkable
contributions to Israel’s economic, cultural and military successes, German
Jews could never compete in the political arena with the far more assertive
and resourceful Zionists of Russian and other East European provenances.
Since Zionists viewed Yiddish as the main threat, Israeli regulations
made it illegal to establish a Yiddish theatre, publish a daily in the
Yiddish language, establish Yiddish schools, and other Yiddish-language
institutions. Political and ideological considerations superseded all others.
Yiddish had to be combated more vigorously than any other language, for
the simple reason that it threatened the hegemony of Hebrew.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Apr 30

“The U.S. is increasingly governed by minority rule…” www.gelliottmorris.com/p/what-the-s...

The U.S. is increasingly governed by minority rule, and Callais is the latest symptom. Democrats have won the effective popular vote for the Senate in every cycle but one since 1992. Nonetheless, two presidents who lost the popular vote in their first elections went on to stack the Supreme Court with justices confirmed by that minority-elected Senate. That court just trashed legislation 67% of voters say is still needed — and 65% of voters now support term limits for the justices.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Apr 30

On a more positive note, coming full circle, next week my father, aged 82 (!) will return to Columbus, Mississippi to be honored along with other Freedom Summer volunteers in an Eighth of May Emancipation Celebration. themsms.org/8th-of-may-e...

Poster for the “Eighth of May Emancipation Celebration,” an MSMS MoreStory performance on May 8, 2026 at 6 PM at Sandfield Cemetery in Columbus, Mississippi. Features special guest poet A.H. Jerriod Avant and student performers; event is free.

**Extended description (contextual):**
A green-and-white event flyer announces the “Eighth of May Emancipation Celebration,” a performance project by the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS). It lists the date (May 8, 2026 at 6 PM) and location (Sandfield Cemetery, Columbus, MS). The program highlights performances by students from MSMS, Columbus High School, Columbus Middle School, and Mississippi University for Women, using song, spoken word, step, and drama to honor the history and legacy of African Americans in the region. A circular photo shows special guest A.H. Jerriod Avant, identified as a Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters Poetry Award winner. Along the bottom are photos of student performers outdoors, an “As seen on HBO” badge, a QR code, and logos of sponsoring organizations including MSMS, MUW, Columbus Municipal School District, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System, and the City of Columbus.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Apr 30

In 1964, when my father was 20 years old, he went to Mississippi to register voters as part of Freedom Summer. NPR interviewed us in 2021: www.npr.org/2021/07/14/1...

O WASOW: Papa, can I ask you a question? Just how does it feel to watch the Voting Rights Act get eviscerated by a thousand cuts?

B WASOW: I just don't understand how people like the judges on the Supreme Court can do that. I mean, how could they have so little sense of history? Or is it truly that they are - that they have ill will? I find it astonishing.

Omar Wasow@owasow· Apr 30

“The word most commonly selected by respondents as applying to President Donald Trump was ‘dangerous,’ which 52 percent of respondents said described Trump…” blog.fiftyplusone.news/p/soft-measu...